


The Chef in the Diner

by ProfessorDumbleBrows



Series: RinHaru Week 2014 [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, First time writing RinHaru so have mercy, M/M, Rin and Sousuke talk a lot but the fluff is with RinHaru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 08:05:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2644376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorDumbleBrows/pseuds/ProfessorDumbleBrows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin fell hard for the local diner’s chef, Haruka. He tried several times to ask him out. It only took a little help from Sousuke and an obvious message to realize that the chef was trying to ask him out as well in his own way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Chef in the Diner

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing RinHaru, so please forgive me if this is OOC.  
> Day 1: Future Fish AU

“I’m going to do it, Sousuke.” Rin said, his hands gripping the steering wheel of the police car tightly.

From the passenger seat, Sousuke raised an eyebrow. He chuckled, obviously mocking his partner. “You said that last week. 

“I mean it this time.”

“You also said that last time."

Rin narrowed his eyes at Sousuke. The male simply smiled, unaffected by the daggers that were thrown in his direction. A sigh escaped from the red head and he brought his hand up to rake through his hair. It was true what Sousuke said, he did say he was going to do this before. He said it for a while now. Yet every time he had to chance to even think about his plan, he always said something else or something interrupted.

But not today.

“Come on, Sousuke.” Rin said, turning off the car and unlocking the doors to get out. Sousuke sighed, waited a second as he debated his choice of tagging along, and got out to follow by Rin’s side to the diner.

They walked inside; the strong scent of morning brewed coffee and underlying scents of cooking food filled the area. It seemed to be a good morning to be there, even if Rin didn’t get to go through with his plan.

The policemen walked over to one of the tables situated by the window. A waitress wasted no time in coming over to them and handing them each a menu. She walked away, giving the two some time to think and even talk among themselves. Sousuke looked over the menu, feeling the need to eat something; whereas, Rin was looking toward the kitchen where he would see one of the chefs duck in and out with orders to hand to the waitresses.

A smile came across Rin’s lips and Sousuke had to whack his arm with the menu as a reminder to keep his infatuation on the downlow. Rin rolled his eyes, finally looking to the menu. When the waitress returned, they ordered their meals and she took the menus before walking away.

“So are you really going to go through with this?” Sousuke asked, propping his head on his hand.

“Of course.”

Sousuke didn’t bother asking anymore. Rin yawned and looked out the window, allowing the silence between them to settle until their mugs of coffee were brought. The taller of the two lifted his mug, blowing air over it and sipping at the hot liquid. Rin, on the other hand, furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at the contents in his mug.

“Something wrong?”

“It happened again.”

“What?”

Rin shook his head, grabbing the mug and lifting it to take a sip. “Ah… Well, every time I order coffee from here, there’s been a number written in cream in it.”

“Cream?”

“Yeah. Which gets me annoyed since I don’t even order my coffee with cream. But nonetheless, its always there.”

“Is it always the same number?”

“Nope.” Rin took another sip at his coffee.

“...Do you remember them?”

“Mmm… A two, a seven, a four, and a couple of other numbers.”

Before Sousuke had the chance to speak again, their food was brought. Looking up at who brought them their meals, Sousuke raised an eyebrow. Well… There he is.

Rin blinked, not having been this close to the chef before. The chef, whom Rin faintly remembered his name being… Haru?, looked at both males after placing their dishes down. A small frown placed upon his lips, but the air around him was by no means intimidating.

“Enjoy your breakfast.” Haru said, turning around and walking back to his place in the kitchen.

Rin watched as he left, his chest suddenly tight with the raw emotion of infatuation. It was like a fire flickered in his heart, spreading warmth throughout his body. But that bloom of sensations was sidetracked as Sousuke spoke.

“Going back to the number situation. It didn’t happen to be a phone number, did it?”

“A phone number? No. Plus, who would even think of doing that?”

He rolled his eyes yet again before picking up his fork and digging it into his omelette to break a part off. He barely glanced at the dish and, therefore, did not realize the words written upon it in ketchup.

Sousuke raised an eyebrow, simply saying “Look at your food.” before beginning to eat his own.

Rin hummed in question and looked down. Looking over to awkwardly scrawled words, he choked on the food he was about to swallow. Coughing, he patted his chest and looked in the direction of the kitchen. After his throat was cleared, he didn’t hesitate with getting up and walking toward the counter.

“Hey, can you please ask the chef if he can come out here? I think his name is… Haru?”

The waitress working at the counter raised an eyebrow. A small smirk came along her lips and she nodded. “Wait right here.” She said before ducking through the doors to the kitchen. One… two… almost three minutes passed. Not that Rin was counting, though. But Haruka indeed came out and approached Rin from the other side of the counter.

“I was told you wanted to speak with me. Was your food not good?” His voice was soft yet carried an unnecessary serious tone.

“What? No. It was. I just… Assuming it was you, you wrote ‘call me’ on my food.”

“...I did. And I know.”

“I don’t have your number.”

“It was in your coffee every time you came here.”

Rin stood silent for a moment. He felt his face was hot. The most primary cause being that he was actually talking to Haruka. The secondary cause being that Haruka gave him his number and wanted to talk to him.

And then the realization suddenly hit him.

“I drank your number.”

Haruka blinked. He understood what he meant, but the words still sounded strange. Rin quickly waved his hands a bit.

“No no! I never wrote down your number. I just, well, drank it.”

His shoulders slumped and he brought a hand up to rub the back of his neck the way he does when he’s embarrassed or bashful. Both being the case for him in that moment.

Haruka exhaled softly before walking away. Rin felt the loss of presence and looked up, wondering just why he left. Situations such as him not liking him already or him coming off as a jerk came through his mind, shattering the idea of even going out on a date with him.

But the pieces of those shattered thoughts were quickly picked up and put together as Haruka returned with a piece of paper. He slid it across the counter, looking away as his hand returned to his side.

“My shift ends at eight. I’m free on Fridays and Sundays.”

The red head felt utter joy at the moment. Grinning, he took the paper and slipped it into his pocket, nodding in clarification. “Eight, Fridays and Sundays. Got’cha.”

Before either of them could get another word in, Sousuke was by Rin’s side.

“We have to go. Robbery three blocks away from here.” He informed, paying Haruka no attention.

Rin seemed to have received a jolt of energy. “Right!” He responded, quickly turning to Haru. “I’ll, uh, call you.”

“Go on before the robber gets away. I don’t need him coming here.”

A breath of amusement escaped the cop and he nodded. “Sousuke, let’s go.”

The two quickly left. Haruka tilted his head as they did, particularly paying special attention to the male whom he was talking to. Shaking his head, he returned to the kitchen.

~*~

A month later, Rin and Haruka were sitting on a bench in their local park. They were relaxing in the shade and enjoying frozen yogurt and each other’s company. Rin was telling Haruka about the new community center’s pool. However, halfway through he yawned and stood in a daze for a few seconds until the other spoke.

“You seem tired today… Long week?”

“Kind of. Yeah. Just a lot of paperwork recently with all the things going on. I’ll be fine.”

Haruka hummed, looking to the ground before eating a spoonful of his frozen yogurt.

Looking over at him, Rin smiled but then asked, “So… Can I ask you something?”

Another hum as a form of granting permission.

“Back when we first spoke, were you really trying to give me your phone number through cups of coffee?”

The black haired male nodded and a glanced over to him.

“What made you thought that I would have guessed that?”

“I thought you were smarter than you looked.”

Rin’s jaw dropped, soon closing shut to grit his teeth for a second. “Oi! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I had high expectations of you.”

“...Well sorry they weren’t met.”

Haruka paused in eating his treat. He turned in his seat on the park bench and looked at Rin. “They weren’t met. They were exceeded.”

Rin stared at Haruka, giving him an almost “what are you talking about?” look. His face warmed up and he rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s still too soon in our relationship to say anything like that.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

Rin clicked his tongue and looked away, trying to put on a poker face. But feeling the chilled lips press against his cheek made him smile and he brought an arm to drape over his shoulder, pulling him closer.

It was moments like that, moments of just having Haruka near him that made Rin feel grateful for stumbling upon the diner. He never would have figured he would have found a great place to eat and a great guy to date.


End file.
